2. Momos

What It Is: A variation on the traditional dimsum, native to the North Eastern states that border Nepal (where the dish originated), eaten with a fiery red chutney.Perfect For: A quick mid-evening snack.Feels Like: Kicking your shoes off after a long day and settling into your couch for hours of TV.

4. Gulab jaamun

What Is It: Small balls of dried milk, slow cooked and boiled in a sugar syrup.Perfect For: When you’ve already had a delicious meal and have just enough room for dessert.Feels Like: Playing hide-and-go-seek with your cousins at a family reunion way, way past your bedtime.

9. Pani puri

What It Is: A small crisp hollow round bread filled with spiced water, tamarind paste, potato, onion, and chickpeas.Perfect For: When you’re craving a thousand flavors at once.Feels Like: Drunkenly challenging your best friend to a contest of who can eat more of these, and then feeling like your mouth is on fire.

10. Jalebi

What It Is: A wheat flour batter deep fried in coil-shapes and soaked in sugar syrup, served hot.Perfect For: When you want something hot, but also sweet.Feels Like: People-watching in a crowded bazaar while your mother haggles over sari prices.

11. Tandoori chicken

What It Is: Chicken marinated for hours in a paste of yogurt and spices, and then roasted (traditionally) in a clay oven called a tandoor.Perfect For: Wowing your dinner guests with minimal effort.Feels Like: Making a pitstop at a roadside diner three hours into a family roadtrip.

13. Baingan bharta

What It Is: Roasted eggplant mashed together with a variety of other vegetables and spices, served with flatbread.Perfect For: An exciting and fancy vegetarian meal.Feels Like: Going back for seconds at a family friend’s house.

14. Dosa

What It Is: A crispy, flat bread (similar to a crepe or pancake) made of rice batter, served with a lentil sauce (sambar) and a variety of chutneys.Perfect For: When you want breakfast to be the highlight of your day.Feels Like: Recounting last night’s events the morning after a sleepover.

15. Bhelpuri

What It Is: Puffed rice fried with vegetables, in a spicy and tangy tamarind sauce.Perfect For: When you want a chilled savory snack.Feels Like: Sitting in the back of a rickshaw at the peak of summer, thankful for the breeze.

18. Rogan josh

What It Is: A lamb curry of Persian origin, now popular in the Kashmir area. In India, rogan josh is often made using goat meat instead of lamb.Perfect For: When you don’t just want a meal – you want a feast.Feels Like: Strutting around in your nicest traditional finery and feeling like royalty.

19. Dhokla

What It Is: A snack/breakfast food from the state of Gujurat, made of fermented rice and chickpea batter.Perfect For: An very, very light yet very, very flavorful snack.Feels Like: Gossiping with your aunts and cousins for hours.

21. Pakora

What It Is: A fritter native to the Indian state Uttar Pradesh – one or more basic ingredients (onion, eggplant, potato, cauliflower, and chili peppers are all options) are dipped in gram flour and deep fried.Perfect For: Rainy days.Feels Like: Sitting by a window during a monsoon afternoon, bonding with your family over hot chai.

23. Papri chaat

What It Is: Crispy, fried dough wafers served with boiled potatoes, boiled chick peas, chilis, yogurt, tamarind chutney, and several spices.Perfect For: A healthy and multi-flavored snack.Feels Like: Rewatching an old Bollywood movie with your mom, for the eighth time.

25. Recheado masala fish

What It Is: A spicy paste made of chilies, tamarind, and garlic (amongst other spices) is rubbed onto whole fish which are then fried.Perfect For: Satisfying your seafood craving and spice craving all at once.Feels Like: Sitting on a beach in Goa, watching the waves roll in.

26. And, finally, samosas.

What It Is: A fried or baked triangular snackfood made of a potato stuffing, usually also containing onions and peas, served with a mint chutney.Perfect For: Literally anytime, anywhere.Feels Like: Home.